


Get Better

by TonySnark (Sherlocked729)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Bad language throughout, Bucky Still Has A Mechanical Arm, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Are Bros, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Family, Friendship, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Language!, M/M, Matt Fraction Hawkeye - Freeform, Multi, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Polyamory, Protective Stephen Strange, Self-Destructive Behavior, Somewhat Established Relationship Already, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:58:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherlocked729/pseuds/TonySnark
Summary: It's been a year and a half since the Civil War and Tony is reeling. Tony knows he can't deal with all this shit on his own, but he's also stubborn enough to try and shut himself away. He knows he needs to swallow his anger and move on, but it isn't that simple.





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes. 
> 
> I'm ignoring the part in Civil War where Tony lasered Bucky's arm off so he still has it.  
> I'm writing Clint Barton as the Matt Fraction Hawkeye comics, i.e. without that family on the farm bs that AoU created. He lives in Bed-Stuy when he's not with the other Avengers, and oh yeah, he's deaf. 
> 
> I don't own Avengers (obviously). Anything else I'm claiming artistic license and probably did it on purpose so forgive me if not everything is exactly how it was int he movies.

                                                                                                                   
  


                                                                                                                     .    .    .

   
  


“Stark! Did you hear me?”

Tony groaned as got up off the floor, feeling bruised from the impact of being hit with a steel pipe repeatedly. He reached up in time to grab the pipe as it was about to hit him again and aimed his free hand at the Hydra man who had caught him off guard. He shot him with his repulsors, knocking the man off balance, causing him to slam into the nearby wall hard.

“STARK! Do you read?!” the agitated voice yelled.

Tony growled impatiently and touched his earpiece. “Yeah! Sorry, Rogers, just been a little busy getting my ass kicked in here! Where the hell is the backup I asked for?”

Stark saw more of Hydra’s men coming towards him and used his Unibeam to cut down a steel tower inside the building, blocking their path.

He could hear commotion on Steve Rogers’ end of the earpiece and then yelling.

“Sorry, Stark, you’re on your own! I captured Zemo though, so as soon as you get the chance, get the hell out of there and grab Nat. I’ll get everyone else!”

“Copy that,” Tony suddenly grunted when he felt something hit him from behind, making him take a dive to the floor as pain radiated throughout his shoulder.

He groaned as he stood up and was faced with an Ultron suit. He staggered back, having thought the Avengers had destroyed all of them. He swallowed hard, feeling ice replace the blood in his veins.

“How does it feel, Stark?” _Oh Christ, it even sounded like Ultron._ “To be all alone, without anyone to help you in your final minutes?”

Tony rose his hand but the Ultron immediately shoot at it with its own twin repulsors. He winced as he felt an electric shock flow through his arm. He felt frozen in place now.

This is how he was going to die, at the hands of his own creation. It seemed fitting and ironic simultaneously.

“He’s not alone, actually,” a familiar female voice spoke.

The Ultron bot turned around to look at Natasha Romanoff who stood behind it but before it could say or do anything, she electrocuted it, short circuiting the robot. Tony watched it fall in relief before he blinked a few times, remembering the disaster that occurred there in Sokovia where so many innocent lives died.

This felt like déjà vu except this time, the robots were stopped. He could still feel anxiety and panic in his chest, though as his mind spun.

He almost flinched when he unexpectedly felt Natasha’s warm hands on his cheeks to ground him.

“Hey, Shellhead,” she remarked good-humoredly. “You all right? Come back now…”

He looked around and swallowed hard before he nodded but felt shaken still. Tony looked down at the Ultron bot that lay lifeless on the floor now, his mechanical mouth agape.

“Good, mind giving me a lift back to the Quinjet so we can go home?”

Tony nodded and then heard Steve in his ear but this time he was talking to Natasha.

“Nat, are you with Tony?”

She touched her earpiece. “Affirmative. We’re about to leave for Tony’s place now. Are Clint and the others all right?”

She eyed Tony with cautious eyes, perhaps afraid that Tony was about to go into a full blown panic attack. It wasn’t without its reasons though; it had happened before when they were on a mission. Tony had spent a good 45 minutes hiding out in a building and hyperventilating until Nat could find him.

“Clint’s bleeding but he only has superficial injuries. How’s Stark looking?”

Tony could feel bruises already forming on his body but he knew that he was scratched up on his head a good deal as well. He hadn’t kept his visor on the whole time either so he knew his lip was broken as well, tasting blood in his mouth.

“Also superficial. See you back at the compound later.” She moved closer to Tony now and led him out of the building. “Finally done,” she said in relief as they walked outside.

Tony could no longer hear sounds of fighting and yelling and relaxed a little. He magnetized her hand, as per usual so she wouldn’t fall to her death, and shot up into the sky, flying them over to where the Quinjet sat on a hill. He landed back on solid ground again and walked inside the Quinjet with her before programming JARVIS to fly it on autopilot.

He let out a breath of relief, taking off his armor, occasionally wincing.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet,” Nat noted, gently tugging him into med bay and started to take care of his more serious injuries. “What are you thinking about?”

Tony pursed his lips but instantly regretting it. “I don’t need you to do that, Nat.”

She raised an eyebrow as she worked on him steadily, disinfecting and bandaging. “Do what?”

He shook his head before he looked at her with firm eyes.

“Checking up on me, making sure I don’t lose my head again. I don’t need an on-team psychologist to baby me. It’s annoying.”

She sighed. “I’m not babying you, Stark. You’re my friend, and team mate, and I just want to make sure you’re all right. To be fair, you _did_ have a panic attack before on a mission. It put you in danger and the rest of us at risk. It’s not just for your benefit, it’s for the rest of ours too. Contrary to popular belief, not everything is about you.”

Tony grimaced, having heard this numerous times before. He groaned when she hit a tender spot, figuring she might have done it on purpose to mildly punish him for being stubborn.

Since the Civil War, Tony had taken a year break away from Steve and Bucky, unable to talk to them or look them in the eye after what had happened at Zemo’s Hydra facility. The break had helped to swallow his rage but he still felt anger and fear towards the super serumed men and he didn’t think anything would change that.

He had been doing pretty well, so he had decided to join the Avengers on team missions again. They started out small, but the common factor was Hydra, always. Tony figured they had numerous facilities all over Sokovia and in Romania but he never had been able to keep track of them all. His mind kept going back to the fiasco with Ultron and the Sokovia incident; then the panic attacks grew more and more and he had to spend more time around Steve and eventually Bucky once he got a new arm and was transported back.

He was a hot mess now and everyone had seen him as such, but he didn’t want to be treated any differently. He didn’t want to seem weak in their eyes.

“I’m fine, Romanoff.”

“Oh, right. You’re Tony Stark, indestructible. That’s why you haven’t been eating or sleeping…”

He tensed up, and it wasn’t because she had hurt him bandaging him up. She was right. He hadn’t slept in a little over 72 hours and he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten. He had been living on a steady diet of coffee and alcohol and he knew he was performing at less than 110%.

“It’s the price I pay for my genius.”

She smirked and shook her head. “Always hiding behind a handsome smile and a quip.” She threw him one of his good shirts before she walked around to the front of him.

Tony gave a weak smirk back. “Oh, so you think I’m handsome? Got it. I’ll mark you down in my little black book, give you a call some time.”

Natasha knew he was kidding and shook her head in response. She watched as he pulled down his Black Sabbath shirt and then started to apply a butterfly stitch to his split lip.

“We miss you, you know… back at the compound.”

Tony gave her a pointed look. “‘We,’ as in…” he trailed off. “Surely it can’t be Captain Stars and Stripes himself and Manchurian Candidate.”

She looked disappointedly at him and sighed heavily.

“Tony, they’re trying. Things are going to be different between you three obviously but that doesn’t mean that you can just shut yourself away from them forever. You’re on a team together and you need to be able to trust each other,” she argued passively.

He shook his head and sighed before he sat down, his muscles aching. “Trust the man who murdered my parents and the other one who kept it from me for all this time? I’m sorry, Nat. That’s going to be a little difficult.”

She also sat down across from him, quiet for a while. “I know you don’t want to hear this right now but… I know what it’s like to keep secrets from people. I can understand the place Steve and Barnes were coming from. They knew how you would react and they were scared.”

Tony scoffed and shook his head again.

“You’re right, Nat. That’s not what I want to hear right now. I don’t give a shit how scared they were. Rogers should have still told me about it from the first time we met.”

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” She asked. “How do you imagine that conversation would have gone, Tony? ‘Hi, Tony… I’m Steve Rogers. Oh, by the way, my best friend killed your parents when you were twenty-one. Nice to meet you.’”

“I get it, okay? It would have been too awkward and maybe they had a right to be scared. Now they know how I feel every time I have to work with them or see them or… have them sign something. I get this… grip of shear, unadulterated panic, and… I can’t breathe. All I see is them tag teaming each other to beat up on me in that fucking Hydra facility.”

Natasha nodded and looked over at the horizon to see them descending. “We’re here, Tony. Do you want me to call Strange to keep you company? Or… do you want me to stay?”

Tony stood up now and ran a hand through his hair before glancing at her, smirking. “You’re worried about me, Romanoff?”

She stood up now too, the corners of her mouth lifting up. “Always,” she replied, parroting the answer he had told her during the Civil War when she had asked if he was okay.

This made him smirk and he nodded now, taking this in.

“I’ll be fine. Go back to the others and you should probably congratulate Cap on finding and arresting Zemo,” Tony told her as the Quinjet landed and he jumped out, glad to be home again.

She looked hesitant but nodded. She looked at him from inside the jet. “I’ll drop by tomorrow, Tony.”

He gave her a thumbs up before he hurried inside his somewhat lavished and cold Tower. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a tumbler and a bottle of his most expensive whiskey before he took both into the entertainment room, falling back onto the couch and quickly taking a pull from the bottle.

He finally relaxed again and then poured some into a tumbler before taking a drink and turning a movie on to distract his busy mind.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

This is just a taste. If I get any comments, I'll make the next chapters longer.


	2. Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fluff. cuddles. whatever you like to call it, it's here.

.    .    .

 

“Stark… Stark! Anthony!”

The foreign voice startled him out of a nightmare, his heart racing hard against his ribcage now as he looked around, his dark hair matted to his forehead, his eyes wide when they settled on Stephen Strange who stood over him.

“O-Only my old man called me Anthony…” Tony spoke hesitantly, panic still in his chest as he looked around at his surroundings.

He must have passed out during the movie; the screen had turned blue but the blu-ray player was still on. He cleared his dry throat and looked at the half empty whiskey bottle on the coffee table next to his tumbler that was a quarter of the way full.

“In my defense,” Strange started, his eyes also settling on the whiskey bottle before he looked back at Tony, “I did try your surname first.”

Tony coughed and took a shaky breath before he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”

Stephen’s eyes glanced up at the clock quickly before he grabbed the whiskey and began walking back to the kitchen behind him. “Nearly noon! You should get up, shower… put something in your stomach. What do you want? I’ll make it for you.”

This had become nearly routine since Tony had found a ride back to the States after the beat down on him. When the others had tried to communicate with Tony, clear the air, and forget grudges against him, they quickly realized that he had bought another tall building in less than an hour on his way back so he could hide himself away, not letting any of them in for at least five months, when he finally let Natasha help him as much as he would let her.

Feeling desperate and knew that she wouldn’t be able to do it on her own, Tony wasn’t surprised when she called Fury for help, who discovered, found, and sent Strange his way. Since then, Stephen dropped in whenever he felt it necessary.

“No, not hungry. Nauseous…”

Tony held his aching head before he forced himself to slowly stand up and walk towards the kitchen where Stephen was cleaning up.

“That’s what happens when you drink so much you pass out, Stark.”

Tony leaned against the counter and watched Strange as he started to put clean dishes away manually. He looked at the ex-surgeon’s long, shaking fingers.

“Do you miss it?”

Strange closed the cabinet and looked over at him. “Miss what?”

Tony shrugged. “Performing surgeries. Having a distraction? Do you miss being able to do something mechanical with your hands?”

Strange thought about this a beat before replying.

“I did miss it, right after the accident. I thought my life was over, and then I found out what I could really do with my hands. It gave me hope,” Strange admitted, looking down at the surgical scars on his fingers.

Tony also looked at them instinctively and felt a sadness inside of him. Building suits and his charisma were the only things he had going for him. Anyone could direct a team. Anyone could do what he did if they were rich enough. There was nothing special about Tony.

Although he was sure that Nat would disagree. For some reason, she could see the good in him.

“Don’t go to that place again, Stark,” he said firmly, but not unkindly. “I know what you’re thinking and you know what happens when you go there in your mind. You’re more than your suits. You’re more than Stark Industries. You’re more than your father’s legacy.”

Tony nodded, unable to stop the smirk that was curling upwards now. “How do you always know what I’m thinking? Are you sure telekinesis isn’t also another one of your superpowers?”

Strange chuckled as he started brewing coffee, also taking a few slices of bread out of a bag before popping it in the toaster.

“I’m just an expert at reading people. I suppose it comes with the job. It’s important that I’m able to tell one’s intentions.”

“What part of ‘not hungry, nauseous,’ don’t you understand?” Tony switched the subject suddenly, watching him.

Stephen sighed. “You haven’t eaten in a few days. You need to eat. Half the reason why you were unable to fight well yesterday during the mission was because you haven’t gotten nutrients in your body.”

“Oh, great. Nat told you about my mission fail yesterday. No, that’s cool,” Tony scoffed, pressing his palms into his eyes.

Stark walked over and gently grabbed Tony’s hands from his face before taking them away and then released them. In the few moments though, Tony felt a shiver run through him at his touch that seemed to help ground him.

“It wasn’t a fail. You’re a part of a team, and the team succeeded in their mission, which means you succeeded as well,” he assured the inventor. “I’ve heard how you are when you’re at the top of your game. You’re amazing, and you can kick ass as well as the others… but… you need to eat, no matter how small or tired or depressed you are.”

“Yeah, that’s easier said than done but… point taken, facial hair bro.” Tony waved dismissively before he poured himself some coffee before he buttered his toast and sat down.

Stephen cringed at the nickname and shook his head.

“You know how much I hate that dear pet name.”

Tony shrugged. “I did too, at first, but… I’ve grown to appreciate it. We’re the two Avengers on the team with the best facial hair, there’s no denying that.”

This made the sorcerer chuckle and shrug but then he straightened and looked at Tony with serious eyes.

“Speaking of the team –"

Tony put a hand up. “Yeah, I’m just… going to stop you right there. Nothing good can come from the rest of that sentence. If you insist on continuing, though, it better not have the names Rogers, or Barnes, in that sentence.”

Stephen shook his head. “No, but… Clint Barton texted you while you were asleep. He said that he was going to drop by, quote, whether you like it or not, unquote.”

Tony chuckled now, nodding. That was definitely something Clint would say.

Once they had started fighting alongside each other again, things had changed between Tony and Clint, but somehow, it had been for the better. Maybe Natasha had a say in it, but they seemed to be more in sync with each other, their past grudges pushed aside and replaced with a brotherhood that Tony couldn’t have ever imagined with someone he had fought against.

They never talked about their disagreement with the Accords, and they realized not to involve politics in friendship and everything was honky dory. When they had hugged it out and talked a bit (okay, talked a lot), Tony had made Barton a set of hearing aids that would help him better than the old ones than he had used back in Bed-Stuy. These were Stark Tech, of course, and were crisper, able to hear things better and Clint was no longer reliant on just lip reading unless he didn’t have the aids in his ears.

He thought the archer was going to cry the first time he tried them out, but of course he didn’t.  He did, however, look grateful.

“Did he happen to say what time?”

Strange smirked now. “What, you got a hot date tonight or something?”

“Yeah, with my bed, alone.”

The smirk turned into a sad frown. “You’re not going back to bed, Tony. I won’t let you, and you know Barton won’t either. Go for a jog or something.”

“Oh, right… I must be gaining weight from the massive amount of food I haven’t been eating,” Tony shook his head, chuckling. Seeing that Strange wasn’t amused, he sighed. “Don’t worry about me. Go back to Katmandu or whatever Stevie Ray Vaughn song you go usually go to.”

“You actually listen to me,” Stephen said, impressed.

“Why does that surprise you, Doc?” Tony looked at him expectantly. “Your life is fascinating… to me.”

Stephen tensed slightly and looked at Tony, searching his face before he nodded, thinking. “Right. Well… good. I guess I’ll get out of your hair then.”

There had been an underlying tone of what the inventor had really meant, and both men knew it. Tony could see that his words had obviously made the sorcerer uncomfortable and he suddenly got a cold sinking feeling in his chest. He stood up.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” he apologized, worried. “I didn’t mean to… upset you or… whatever _this_ is,” he waved to Stephen’s composure. “You can just forget I said it, if you want.”

Strange wet his lips and he shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Stark. Just… let’s take things one day at a time and get you back on track before anything else. All right?”

Tony nodded once, mentally kicking himself. He watched as the sorcerer opened up a portal in the kitchen and waved his hand goodbye to Stark before disappearing into the portal before it closed up behind him.

Once he left, he slammed his hand hard on the counter, punishing himself with the pain once, twice. His hand was red when he was done and he groaned.

_Why did he do that? Why the hell did he say that?_

He was openly flirting with the man and he didn’t even know his sexual preference.  He could be straight and Tony was making a fool of himself in front of him. He despised himself.

Tony was debating dumping his coffee and trading it in for his whiskey again when he heard his girl FRIDAY over the household system.

_“Pardon me, boss. Clint Barton is at the front door. Shall I let him in?”_

Even though Stark was drowning in his embarrassment and mild pain in his hand, he took a deep breath before letting it out.

“Yeah, sure. Let him in.”

There was a mechanical _click_ of the lock of the front door as FRIDAY unlocked it and it opened. He tried to compose himself as he saw Clint walk inside, looking relaxed in a cotton t-shirt and dark jeans. He nodded to Tony and for a moment Tony thought he didn’t have his hearing aids in until a glint of the neon blue color reflected off the lights.

“Stark…”

Tony nodded. “Good to see you again, Barton. What do I owe the pleasure?”

The archer shrugged as he moved closer to Tony. “Figured I would stop by, see how your sign language lessons are going,” he smirked playfully.

Stark shook his head. “They’re coming along but I don’t think I’m fluid enough to follow everything and carry on full conversations with you yet. I’d prefer if you keep that tech in your ear.”

Clint still looked at Tony impishly. “Oh, so it’s okay if I’m forced to read lips but you don’t have to sign or anything. That’s all right then?”

The inventor chuckled and shrugged before he searched Clint’s face. “Is it that uncomfortable that you don’t want to wear them, Barton?”

It was Clint’s turn to shrug again but he was smiling. “They’re all right. It’s just… a piece of metal on the inside that rubs up against my skin and bothers me. It… chafes it, almost. Hey, mind if I have some coffee?”

Tony moved out of the way and grabbed another mug before handing it to Clint. “Help yourself, man. Get it while it’s fresh.”

“Thanks, Stark.” Clint poured himself coffee before he added cream and sugar and drank some. “There wasn’t any coffee when I woke up this morning. An uncaffeinated archer is a cranky archer.”

Tony chuckled again before leaning against the counter. “Well, you can have as much as you want, Barton.”

Clint looked at him before he grimaced and played with his hearing aid a bit, obviously trying hard for Stark’s sake to not take them out right then and there. He took another drink of coffee, visibly enjoying the warm beverage. It wasn’t a secret that no one loved or enjoyed coffee more than anyone Tony had ever met.

The two men shared a comfortable silence with each other before Clint spoke again. “Is Nat around?”

Tony looked up at him. “She’s not at the compound?”

Clint tensed up a bit, his eyes growing worried. “I thought she stayed here with you last night?”

He felt panic again build in his chest. “F-Friday? Where’s Romanoff?”

_“Agent Romanoff is downstairs in the training room, Mr. Stark.”_

Tony relaxed again and saw Clint do the same. He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief.

“How’d you not know she was here?” He asked curiously, his voice free of anger or frustration. He had learned very quickly about Tony’s panic attacks and knew that yelling at him wouldn’t help anything.

Tony shook his head before taking another sip. “She told me she was leaving and I watched her leave! I don’t know, Barton… stupid me, I just assumed she had actually left.”

Clint chuckled now and shook his head before finishing his coffee and quickly poured himself another cup.

“Good morning, boys. FRIDAY told me you might be looking for me?” Natasha smirked as she walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, looking like she was obviously training as the AI had told them.

“Morning, Nat…”

“Yeah, good morning, Nat. By the way, I thought you left last night. Am I… crazy or did I not watch you physically leave?” Tony half teased.

She grinned at Tony and shrugged. “I left, but then I woke up early at the compound and decided to come here, in case FRIDAY told me you needed me. Then I saw Strange while I was training so I knew you were all right. I kept training.”

“I think you train too much, Nat,” Clint smirked at her.

She playfully smacked his waist, causing him to laugh. “Maybe you don’t train enough, _Hawkeye_!”

 She jumped out of the way when he brought his leg up half-heartedly to kick her. She moved out of the way in the time and then ruffled up Clint’s hair. He yelped and started to pat it back down with his free hand.

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle and smile as they watched the two friends. If he didn’t know better, he would have assumed they were siblings just how they acted and cared about each other.

“How long are you here for?” Nat asked him casually, drinking some more of her water before she grabbed a cup of yogurt and a spoon.

Clint shrugged. “Dunno. I just wanted to come by to hang out with Stark but you’re invited too.”

She feigned a look of surprise and humbleness. “Oh, can I? Why thank you, your archership. I’d be so honored.”

Tony watched them before he cleared his throat. “Movie, anyone? The blu-ray is still on from last night when I was watching stuff. Come along, kids. Pick out a movie, any movie… within reason.”

“Oh goodie! Thanks, daddy!” Clint teased, finishing his coffee and pretending to run over to the movie cabinet.

“Move out of the way! He said I could pick too!” Nat played along, unable to stop herself from chuckling as she playfully pushed Clint out of the way so she could see the movies too.

“Hey, both of you knock that off before I lock you in your rooms without supper,” Tony also joked but then took a sharp breath, remembering that his father had once threatened and went through with that promise when he had been younger and rebellious.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed before he sat back on the couch. Clint and Nat both glanced over at him to see he had stopped playing along with them and then started going through the movies like adults again.

“What about… this one?” Clint said, holding up _Hunger Games._

Tony glanced up and tilted his head to the side. “Really, Barton? _This_ is why I call you Katniss.”

“Why do you even have this then?!” Clint shoved the movie back into the cabinet. “It’s not like you have any teenagers into a shitty remake of Battle Royale.”

“I like movies with Woody Harrelson in them. Sue me.”

Natasha pulled out _Snatch_. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is, Tony.”

Clint spun his head to look at the movie and laughed. “No, let’s watch it! It’s a good movie! It’s totally not what you think it is, Nat.”

She sighed but opened up the blu-ray player and put the disc in before he stood up and walked over to the same couch Tony was relaxing on. Natasha placed herself in between her two favorite boys and leaned against Clint as the movie started to play.

Tony let himself get lost in the movie, grateful for the afternoon distraction. By the end of the movie, Natasha was leaning against Tony and Clint was rubbing his eyes tiredly. The darkened room made it seem like it was much later in the day than it actually was.

He stood up. “I need more coffee. Do you guys want any?”

“No, thanks,” Natasha answered.

“Tony?”

“No… thank you.” Tony was feeling the slight pressure of Natasha’s body against his and he felt his stomach give a flutter. He tried to casually put his arm around her shoulders but then felt guilty he wanted to do more than that. She looked at him and leaned against his body comfortably, gently tugging on his arm to wrap around her.

He searched her eyes, wanting to make sure that she was one hundred percent okay with this position and his hand. She gave a small smile and watched as Clint came back in, glancing over at them with coffee in hand.

“How long have you guys been comfy with each other? And why did no one tell me?”

Natasha chuckled. “Not long,” she answered honest. _Since now._ Natasha threw a pillow at his legs lightly so he wouldn’t spill his coffee. “And it’s not like you need to know anyway! Mind your own beeswax, Hawkeye.”

Clint smirked and chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. All right… what should we watch next?”

And that was that. Tony delicately played with Natasha’s hair as Clint didn’t wait for an answer from them, putting a James Bond movie in instead. She was as comfortable with Tony as he had been with her, and now they were a couple.

Why couldn’t everything feel this easy?


	3. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> movies. bedtime. Strange. coffee.

.     .     .

 

 

After about two more movies, Clint had taken out his hearing aids and lay them on a nearby table before he scrunched into the chair he claimed as his own. Natasha was sleeping as well but stirred when Tony’s phone notification went off.

“Mmmm?”

Tony was still awake and chuckled when he saw her rub her eyes tiredly. “Not used to marathoning movies anymore?” He leaned forward to grab his phone.

This was one of the few times he was glad that Clint had taken his hearing aids out. Now their talking and his phone wouldn’t wake him up.

“I’ve been living with him for a while now so I’m used to marathoning movies. It’s Clint’s favorite thing to do,” Natasha smirked. “I’m probably getting too old to do it.”

Tony opened up his text messages and saw he got one from Strange. “He’s older than you, Romanoff. You don’t have any excuse.”

_Anthony, just checking in to make sure you’re being a good boy. Let me know if you want company. – Stephen_

“Everything okay?” Nat had smiled at Tony’s comment but then looked mildly concerned as Tony grew quiet to read the text from Strange.

Tony nodded and rubbed his own eyes tiredly. “Yeah, just Strange checking in. Are you ready for bed?”

Natasha nodded, glancing outside to see it was dark outside. She stood up and looked hesitantly at Clint before she looked at Tony. “Should we wake him up?”

The inventor nodded. “Yeah, I’ll make sure he goes to his nest. Go on up to bed.”

She looked grateful and moved over to Stark before she leaned up and kissed his lips softly, tensing slightly to see his reaction. Tony felt himself shiver at her kiss, feeling like this was so natural. He placed his hands on her waist gently and kissed her back before he smirked playfully.

“Go to bed before I offer myself to your night time services, Nat. Fully consensually, of course.”

She smirked back and chuckled before she turned around and headed to the elevator to go to her room she had claimed as her own since he had built this new Tower. “Don’t stay up too late, Shellhead.”

 Tony was glad he made it only a little bit smaller than his original one; he had rooms for everyone who chose to stay over, either because they had too much to drink or they were just worried about Tony, like Natasha, and wanted to stay and make sure he would be okay.

He walked over to Clint shook him awake. The archer looked startled at first and took a few moments to look at the clock before looking at the television and then back to Tony, watching his lips.

 _“Bedtime,_ ” Tony said slowly.

Clint groaned and shook his head. “Too early.”

“ _It’s getting late. You should go to bed, Barton.”_ Tony motioned with his hands. “ _Bed. Now.”_

Finally Clint forced himself out of the chair and grabbed his aids before he reluctantly put one in as he walked towards the elevator and held it open for Tony, knowing he would be following him too. It had become a habit.

He let go when Tony entered and sighed tiredly.

“Where’s Nat?”

“She’s already upstairs,” Tony replied, making sure he talked so Clint could hear him, even though he knew it would be a bit muffled still. He pointed up.

The other man nodded in understanding and rode the elevator in silence until they got upstairs and then walked down the hall to his room. Tony watched him and walked the opposite way to his own room before he closed the door and finally dialed Stephen’s number, missing his voice already.

It rang a couple times and he was met with a groggy sounding Strange but it was obvious that he was trying to sound like he hadn’t been sleeping.

_“Anthony? Everything okay…?”_

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you? I was just shuffling off to bed.”

 _“Yeah, I was sleeping, but it’s all right. I should be awake and doing things anyway. I forget about the time difference sometimes. Damn it… what time is it there? Around ten at night?”_ Stephen yawned.

Tony felt a wave of guilt, wishing he hadn’t called anymore. How was Strange going to protect the universe if he didn’t get his eight hours of sleep in? “Yeah, I-I’m sorry… I just… wait – where are you?”

There was the sound of tea being poured in the background; Tony guessed no doubt by the use of magic and Stephen’s slender fingers.

“ _I’m currently at Kamar-Taj. I needed to brush up on some skills. I’ve been getting a bit rusty. What are your plans for tomorrow? Well… when you wake up, my today.”_

“I… don’t know,” Tony said quietly. Thinking about the future wasn’t something he liked to do very often. “I’d like to do something, with you… I think, if you’re not too busy.”

He could practically hear Stephen’s smirk.

_“That would be nice, Stark. Let me know when you’re up and dressed and I’ll pop by.”_

Tony felt a smile curl up at the corners of his mouth. “Good. That sounds good… umm… I don’t know if I should wish you a goodnight or good morning,” he chuckled awkwardly.

 _“How about I wish you a good night and we’ll leave it at that?”_ Strange offered, laughing softly.

“All right. Go ahead, then, Magic Man.”

_“Good night, Anthony. I’ll see you when you wake up…”_

“See you, Stephen,” Tony smiled to himself before he hung up and got ready for bed.

 

.   .   .    .    .     .    .    .    .    .   

 

When Tony walk woke up again, he could smell coffee. It was a familiar smell and it meant that either Nat or Clint were still here.

He heard his phone buzz and grabbed it and rubbed his eyes before he realized that it wasn’t the first time it buzzed; in fact, he had two messages from the two people he felt most on edge around. He scratched his chin and took a couple deep breaths before he opened the first message:

_Tony, I would like you to come over here, or invite me over there, whichever you feel most comfortable with. I just would like to talk with you, as friends, like we used to – Steve_

Tony felt a lump in his throat before he opened up the second message.

_I know that we’ve been on missions and everything since the War, but I know things are still tense between us, and I don’t like it any more than you do._

_I’d like for us to be friends, if that’s possible.  – Bucky_

The message made him unsure what to feel. He felt conflicted. Yeah, they were considered neutral as far as what level they were on with each other went, but did he want to be friends with either of them? Steve, maybe, but he wasn’t sure about Barnes.

Steve and Nat both tried to convince Tony it was the Winter Soldier who had murdered Tony’s parents, and not Bucky. He knew that it was true in his heart but he couldn’t deny the hurt he still felt.

He tossed his phone on the bed before he got up and showered quickly and headed downstairs, only half surprised to see both Natasha and Clint leaning against the counters in quiet, easy conversation with each other.

Tony poured himself a cup of coffee, trying not to interrupt them but Nat greeted him first.

“Mornin’, boss,” she nearly mimicked Friday.

Tony tiredly smirked and took a sip of his coffee before he pointed at her. “You’re what I imagine Friday would look like, with the red hair and everything. By the way, like you much better like this than with that other hair, just putting it out there.”

She smirked and chuckled before glancing over at Clint.

“I don’t know, Stark, I like her other color just the same. One day your hair will be that color.”

Tony’s eyebrows raised but he was laughing to himself. “Watch it, Barton. Those arrows of yours might unexpectedly blow up in your face.”

“I’d like to see you try. I can tell when someone’s tampered with my arrows,” Clint smirked back.

“Sure you can,” Tony teased. He sipped his coffee and felt tense again as he thought back to the texts from the super soldiers.

Clint seemed to sense the tension because he refilled his cup and glanced at Tony, ready to disappear. “I just want to do some target practice and then I’ll be out of here?”

Stark shook his head and waved him off dismissively. “Stay as long as you want, Barton.” When he nodded a thanks and started downstairs via elevator, he heard Nat’s voice.

“What’s going on? Did you have another nightmare?” She asked calmly, looking at Stark over the top of her cup.

Tony shook his head and looked down at his mug. “No… no. Last night was all right, as far as nightmares go. Our two favorite war buddies texted me, looks like early this morning.”

“Oh yeah?” Natasha straightened up. “What’d they say?”

Stark chewed on his lip. “They both want to meet up and talk to me. They want… the three of us to be friends.”

 _Friends_. The word felt bitter in his mouth, but he also imagined the relief it would be if he wasn’t afraid of either of them and if he could totally trust both of them on missions again. They were great assets to the team and Tony knew it wasn’t fair to ask them not to be there.

“What do you think about that, Tony?”

Just then, he heard the doorbell and then heard Friday over the intercom.

_“Stephen Strange is at the door, boss. Would you like me to let him in?”_

Tony bit his lip, remembering what Stephen had told him last night. He looked at Nat with apologetic, but kind eyes. “I’ll catch up with you later. Is that okay?”

She nodded, smiling. “Of course. No worries. I’ll go harass Clint for a while.” She gently caressed Tony’s shoulder almost lovingly as she passed him, making her way back down to the target shooting area where Clint was now.

“Yeah, let the wizard in,” Tony instructed, taking another drink.

_“Yes, boss.”_

He waited a few moments and then saw Strange walk inside, peering into the kitchen. He had shallow cuts on his forehead and near his temple. He felt a tug at his heart and put his coffee down before he almost instinctively moved closer to him.

He placed his hands on the man’s head to examine him further but the ex-surgeon shrugged him off.

“I’m all right, Anthony… really. There’s no reason to worry.”

Tony looked at him skeptically, still eyeing the small wounds. “I thought you were you just at the library last night researching. Do you have dangerous books in there or what?”

Stephen chuckled. “Not in the way you may think. I got into a scrap, but I’m all right. It’s not a big deal.”

“Wait, back up. You got into a schoolyard fight with someone? Who?” He felt defensive now, ready to attack anyone who hurt this man.

Strange shook his head but Tony noticed how Strange’s eyes flickered to him momentarily. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not important, Anthony. I regret saying anything at all. Have you eaten today? Can I make you something?”

By the way that Stephen changed the subject, Tony knew something wasn’t right. “Where did you really go last night?”

Strange ignored him and popped some bread into the toaster before he grabbed the butter from the fridge, growing quiet. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Strange! Look at me,” he reached out and grabbed his arm and gently forced him around, which wasn’t too difficult since the sorcerer let him.

“Where did you go…? Did you go to the compound?”

Strange finally met Tony’s eyes. “I did go there, but I went back to Kamar-Taj afterwards to do research, I promise, Anthony.”

Tony looked at him with wide, expectant eyes. “Well? That’s it? Don’t keep me in suspense. What happened? Who did you tango with?”

“No, I’m not going to tell you because I don’t want you going over there and getting hurt over me. I’m the one who started it with them, and I also finished it,” Stephen remarked.

Some pieces of the puzzle started to line up now. “You… it was you.”

“What was me?”

“They both sent me texts early this morning. You said something to them to make them be nice. Did they really want to meet up with me and talk or did you force them to?” Tony asked, searching Strange’s eyes.

“Does it matter?” He shrugged. “You three need to deal with your issues with each other or else it’s going to cost someone’s life one day and I don’t need it to be you.”

“Why not me?”

“Because… I care about you, a lot more than I want to admit,” Strange rubbed his clean temple before he looked at him carefully. “Anyway, you should go over there and talk to them so I didn’t fight for you for nothing.”

Tony took a breath and rested his hands on his waist. “I didn’t ask you to do that. I can fight my own battles.”

“How?” Stephen asked now with a slight smirk. “By avoiding them at all costs? I am very aware that’s how you deal with your problems, Stark. You can’t keep doing that though… I know… that it’s a big step but I know that things can get better with the three of you. You’re stronger together.”

Tony relaxed some, swallowing hard before he nodded. “All right. I-I’ll go over there today. Want to come with?”

Stephen chuckled before he shrugged. “If you want me to, I will. Do you need backup to go see them?”

Tony shifted his jaw nervously before he sighed, leaning against the counter. “Maybe. Maybe… I just want the pleasure of your company today.”

“Aww you missed me?”

“Maybe. A bit,” Tony moved his thumb and forefinger down to show a decent amount of space in between. “Anyway, as painful as it is for me to admit, maybe… I should talk to them. Hopefully, it won’t have the same outcome for me.”

“For the record, they wouldn’t have had touched me if I hadn’t started shit with them.”

Tony playfully narrowed his eyes now and pointed at him.

“Wait, you could’ve worked your magic and thrown them into a portal back to Germany or Romania. Why didn’t you? You didn’t have to lay there and take it.”

Stephen smirked. “Because then I’d have to work my magic and throw them back to the compound and I’m a lazy sorcerer. I don’t know, Stark, what do you want me to say?”

“Say you’ll go with me?”

Strange smiled now and nodded before he moved his fingers, making coffee pour neatly into a mug that he magicked out of the cupboard. “I’ll go with you, Anthony, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was a sort of dull chapter but I promise drama later on!


	4. Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> take one magic man, one inventor, and add two super soldiers. What do you get?   
> Hopefully a family.

.     .     .

 

Tony told Natasha where she and Stephen would be, although he doubted she would miss him. She and Clint were now practicing their defense moves against each other in the target shooting area.

When Strange and he pulled up to the compound, Tony could feel the panic resting on his chest. He had insisted they take one of his cars so he would have time to compose himself before he had to face Rogers, but it still wasn’t enough time. Stephen must have sensed his anxiety because he shut the car engine off and then suddenly laced his shaky hand into Tony’s steady one.

“It’s going to be all right, Anthony…”

“Please don’t call me that right now,” Tony insisted quietly, looking down at his lap. “The last thing I need right now is to be reminded of my father and… Cap already does that just by existing.”

There was a few beats of silence before Stephen spoke again.

“Understood.”

It was one word but somehow it made Tony relax a little bit. He took a deep breath and let it out again before he glanced over at him.

“We don’t… have to stay long, right? I mean, ten, maybe fifteen minutes?” Stark asked, needing reassurance and feeling pathetic for it.

Strange gently squeezed Tony’s hand and took off his seatbelt before he turned to the inventor. “I think we’re obligated to stay a bit longer than that but… if you really are uncomfortable, we can leave earlier. I’ll be right here with you, Stark. Neither of them are going to put hands on you.”

“I know,” Tony half-lied, trying to play it cool again. It was his voice that reassured everyone when he wasn’t sure himself.

Stephen sighed now, apparently disliking Tony’s ability to be vulnerable longer than a few moments. He released his hand and got out of the car and waited for the other man before walking towards the compound.

When the flood lights came on, Tony knew it was too late to turn back now. The two men entered the front entrance and was greeted by Steve who looked affronted that Strange was there as well. He glanced over at the shorter man.

“Tony, I didn’t think you’d bring a plus one with you.”

“Really? Why is that? After all our disagreements and fights we’ve gotten in –"

Steve tensed and Tony didn’t miss how the super soldier balled his hand into a tight fist. “You would think we could be grown-ups and put all that behind us,” he interrupted, a slight impatience in his voice.

It was now when there was a shuffling noise and Steve glanced into the hallway when Tony noticed there was a bruise on the side of his face. He looked over at Strange and nodded towards the bruise again, to which Strange shrugged half-heartedly, smirking slightly.

Tony stood up straighter now, Strange’s similar attitude giving him confidence and strength.

“You would think,” Tony stated simply, shrugging.

Steve sighed now and shook his head. “Come on, Stark. I just want us to be friends.”

“Friends? We’re barely acquaintances. I’m sorry – am I supposed to suddenly forgive all your transgressions against me?”

“Against _you_?” Steve laughed now. “What about Bucky? You wouldn’t go near him or me for months after our Civil War! You would lay into him every time you saw him about your parents! Now’s a hell of a time to start playing the victim.”

Tony clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, backing away towards the door. “This was a mistake, coming here.”

Strange gently touched Tony’s arm with a softness that he felt with Natasha. The familiarity of it made him stop in his tracks and look at him. When he did, he saw the sorcerer’s pleading eyes on him and saw him lean in close enough that Tony could smell his sandalwood cologne.

“Let me talk to him, Anth- Stark. I know he’s frustrating as hell but you’ll still need to get along and work as a team on missions. Creating further tensions will just distract all of you.”

“And by talk, you mean…”

Strange smirked again and chuckled. “I mean talk. No hitting this time. Stay here for a minute.” He didn’t give Tony room to argue as he walked over to Rogers and started to have a tense conversation to him.

As Tony patiently waited, he suddenly noticed how close Barnes was to him and he took a small, casual, step back before facing him.

Bucky glanced over at Rogers and Strange before he looked back at Tony and gave him an unsure, curt nod. He looked as nervous as Tony felt.

“How have you been doin’?” Barnes asked softly. He cringed a little bit as he tried to make himself look as non-threatening as possible; Strange must have bruised both of them, Bucky having no doubt tried to come to Steve’s rescue.

Tony decided to play nice but still stayed alert.

“Been better, been worse. Yourself, Terminator?”

Barnes shrugged. “Same, I guess. Almost miss having you ‘round here,” he almost smirked. “It’s not the same without your smart ass quips and snark.”

Tony relaxed a bit more and then felt both Strange’s eyes as well as Steve Rogers’ eyes on the two of them. He shifted his weight and chuckled weakly.

“Well, I’m here now.”

He looked over at the other men and saw Rogers glance at Barnes before he looked at Tony with a softer expression than before.

“Come on into the kitchen. Wanda made lunch and you’re welcome to have some.”

All four men made their way into the kitchen where there was dumplings in some kind of soup in a large pot but Wanda was nowhere to be seen.

“What, she just cooked and ran?” Tony asked lightheartedly, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard.

Rogers chuckled now and shrugged. “She’s taken to hiding out in her room, especially when she knows you’re coming over, but… I suppose we can chalk it up to her being an angsty teenager although I have to admit it was a bit different in my day.”

“Yeah, well… back in our day, our idea of a date was getting ice cream,” Barnes smirked, also helping himself to the eastern European dish.

Strange refrained from the food but sat next to Tony at the table. He looked from Rogers to Barnes. “How are you two adjusting?”

Rogers waved a hand. “Oh, I think we’ve pretty much already adjusted to everything but living with a teenage girl is never a dull moment. She still ends up surprising me sometimes.”

“Wanda Maximoff,” Strange spoke more to himself than to the others. “She obtained her enhancement from experimentation, correct?”

“Von Strucker’s experimentation, yes,” the captain nodded. “In Sokovia.”

Tony recognized that look in the sorcerer’s eyes. He was getting interested in something and curious. He looked at Stark, conflicted. He wanted to go talk to the girl but he also wanted to stay here and watch over him.

Stark ran a hand through his hair and felt guilty. “Go talk to her, Strange. I know you want to.”

“No… perhaps another time. It’s all right.”

Tony sighed and looked at him. He couldn’t be responsible for holding Stephen back from something he was interested in and wanted to learn more about. He gave him a small, reassuring smile.

“Go, it’s fine. We can… play nice here while you’re gone.”

Strange eagerly stood up. “Are you sure?”

Tony nodded but he didn’t feel as sure as he pretended. “Yeah, go! Go learn all you can, Grand Wizard. I’ll see you soon.”

Strange looked grateful now and even went as far as to lean his head gently against Tony’s affectionately before he hurried off to find Wanda. Tony watched him go and felt all too aware now that he was alone with both super soldiers.

One who had murdered both his parents when he was younger. Another who was his best buddy who disagreed with him on pretty much everything at the moment.

No, wait. _He hadn’t murdered his parents. The Winter Soldier did._

Tony knew he needed to try to come to terms with that, as difficult as it was. It felt like an excuse but being tied down and brainwashed was something that Barnes never asked for, either. He didn’t give himself up for experimentation like Wanda and her brother had.

“Thank you, for coming here today,” Steve spoke once Strange was out of the room. “I didn’t think you would, to be honest.”

Tony poked at his dumplings, no longer feeling hungry.

“Yeah well… I didn’t think I’d come either. I figured that you both were right though; we need to get along on and off missions. We need to be able to trust each other,” Tony nodded, looking between them.

“I’m glad you can see that, Tony. I’d like for us to be friends, eventually. I meant what I said before; it would be nice to hang out with you off mission. I’d be nice to have you around here. I know that Banner misses you.”

Tony nodded, having suspected that. “I figured. So… what is this, then? Are we suddenly all buddy-buddy now? Pretend that nothing ever happened?”

Rogers was quiet for a bit, glancing over at a nervous looking Bucky, before looking back at Tony.

“How about… a truce? Does that sound fair?”

Tony thought for a few moments. It wouldn’t bring back his parents, but neither would hurting Barnes or holding grudges against either of them. His parents were dead, no matter how many times Tony pretended they were by using the B.A.R.F. system. He swallowed hard before he nodded once.

“Yeah, yeah. Truce sounds good.”

Both men seemed to relax now and Steve smiled cautiously before he held out his hand to Tony. “Good. Truce, then.”

He looked at Rogers’ hand almost nervously before he put his own out and shook it. “Truce.”

“Good. Thank you, Tony… really. Thank you.”

Stark didn’t know what to say so he just nodded again and looked down at his hands. “I… would like to propose conditions that are not to be broken unless I… initiate otherwise,” he suggested in his professional I’m-bothered-by-this-but-pretending-I’m-not voice.

Steve looked apprehensive now but he nodded, sitting up straighter.

“What are your conditions?”

Tony couldn’t look at them as he explained simply because a part of him felt embarrassed, and other part felt weak and vulnerable. He cleared his throat.

“Neither of you touches me without my okay first. No grabbing, benign or not; no hugging, no patting, nothing, unless I initiate it first,” Tony ordered.

The whole fight at the Hydra compound after Zemo was the stuff of Tony’s nightmares and panic attacks, but he also had panic attacks of the future possibility of Steve and Barnes ganging up on him when Tony couldn’t get to his suit. He was defenseless without it.

Steve nodded surely. “Of course. Agreed,” he glanced at Bucky who gave him a pointed look now and bit his lip as he looked back at Tony. “There _is_ something I would like to ask of you as well, Stark.”

“Of course there is,” he shook his head and looked down at his cooling dumplings.

“I’d like you to stop bringing up your parents, Tony,” Steve said, not unkindly. “I know what it’s like to lose people you love, and I know it was under different circumstances, but I would like to put it behind us, once and for all. As you know, it wasn’t Bucky’s fault and I don’t think it’s fair that you continue to fault him for something he had no control over.”

Tony glanced at Barnes who was trying to look as involved as he could in his soup. He couldn’t blame him; he wanted to disappear from this awkward conversation now too.

“All right, I’ll try. Old habits die hard and all that.”

Steve looked a bit frustrated but he nodded. “Fine, and no more nicknames, for either of us.”

Tony looked affronted. “What? Oh, come on! It’s all in good fun. I can’t help it that you two old men make it so easy for me to come up with them.”

“No more nicknames, Stark,” Steve said, more firmly this time.

Tony sighed heavily and shrugged. “Fine. No more nicknames… unless it’s a holiday,” he smirked, unable to stop himself.

Steve looked like he wanted to argue but let it go. “All right, then. Now let’s eat our soup before it gets cold.”

“Actually,” Tony stood up. “I’m not all that hungry. You can have mine, Barnes,” he said, pushing it towards him before he went to go find Strange and Wanda.

He decided to start in Wanda’s room, and luckily, that was where they were, deep in conversation. He hung back just outside the room, watching the two of them talk about their magic, Strange’s eyes wide, asking questions about her own enhancement.

Seeing Strange so excited gave Tony a warmth inside of him that spread throughout his entire body. Seeing him happy made Tony happy as well. He waited for a break in the conversation but it never came so he gently knocked on her door.

“Sorry for interrupting. I just want my wizard back,” he smirked at Strange who rolled his eyes playfully.

Wanda bit her lip but she nodded. “Of course. You can have him back now,” she looked at Stephen with a shy smile. “I would like to continue this conversation some other time, if that is okay?”

Strange nodded once. “Of course. I would like to continue it as well. Excuse me,” he stood up and walked over to Tony before he led him towards Clint’s room so they could talk privately.

“Did everything go okay with them?”

Tony sat down on the bed and looked up at him. “Yeah, peachy. We called a truce.”

“A truce… what does this truce entail?” Strange looked skeptical, maybe even a bit protective.

Tony looked around Clint’s room. Apart from a few new, outdated hearing aids lying around, it wasn’t that different from the last time Tony had been in here.

“They don’t do any unwarranted touching and I stop bringing up my parents and giving them new nicknames.”

Stephen nodded, taking this in. “What brought up the unwarranted touching part? Did they do something downstairs?”

Tony shook his head, playing with the bedspread. “No, they were fine. I just… get panic attacks whenever they touched the basic parts of my body after the throw down. Even just the simple shit set something off in me and I haven’t been able to get control of it, so… I gave them limitations. It’s all right if I initiate it first, which I probably won’t.”

“I’m proud of you, Stark,” Stephen spoke now, searching his face.

“Really? For what?”

“Standing up for yourself against them, drawing a line in the sand. It’s good that you think of yourself and your own well-being, especially when I’m not around all the time,” he smirked.

Tony chuckled and smirked back.

“Well, thanks… I guess I should do something for myself since you’re going to be off fighting interdimensional beings and protecting Earth from unseen forces.”

Stephen stepped closer to him now, looking almost hungrily at Tony before he gently pulled him back up so he was standing.

“It’s okay if I touch you though? I just realized that I’ve been doing it a lot lately and I don’t want to overstep my boundaries or anything.”

Tony shook his head. “No, I-I like it when you touch me,” he stammered, feeling his breath hitch. “I think it scares me how much I like it.”

Strange placed a hand on Tony’s waist before he leaned in and rested his head against the other man’s again. “I don’t want to scare you, Anthony.”

He didn’t even try to correct him this time.

“You don’t scare me, Strange. I feel… better with you around. You give me strength that I don’t have normally. You help me more than you know.”

“Good,” Strange said before he leaned in slowly and kissed the shorter man, gently lingering on his lips.

Tony kissed him back, smiling in their embrace before he pulled away again. He took a deep breath and let it out.

“Thank you for coming with me, Strange. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you here with me.”

“You’re so much stronger than you realize, Anthony, but you’re welcome.”


	5. Nagging / Caring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony can't let things go and then he gets a boo-boo.

**.        .        .**

 

_“Sir. Shall I call Miss Potts?”_

_“Might as well…”_

_An alien universe, vast and foreign._

_Alien ships swimming in space towards Earth, towards innocent people, towards his friends. An Armada ready to attack and destroy everything and everyone._

_Communications die as his suit connection is cut off and he’s falling, falling fast._

Tony wakes up with a yell, soaked in sweat and breathing hard. He looks around and slowly relaxes, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

_Fuck._

He let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his hair before he reluctantly pulled out the anti-anxiety meds out of the drawer next to the bed. He hated given into them, though, so he rarely took them, which explained why he still felt anxious.

He swallowed them with water from the tap and hopped in the shower, letting the water relax him and cleanse him of the nightmare. He took a deep breath and quickly rinsed off again before shutting the water off and started to dry himself off when a voice from the other side of the door made him jump.

“There’s coffee and breakfast downstairs, Stark,” Steve called out to him. He lingered at the door, perhaps wanting to say more to him.

Tony cleared his throat and looked up. “All right,” he called back to him before also adding, “Thanks, Cap.”

If Steve didn’t like the nickname, he didn’t say so. Tony watched as Steve walked away from the door, the footsteps sounding further and further away now. Maybe he didn’t include ‘Cap’ as a nickname he didn’t like, or maybe he was just tired of fighting with him.

Either way, Tony was going to get out of this compound as soon as he could.

He dried himself off and got dressed before he headed downstairs, having decided to spend the night last night after Strange went to be a superhero. He had also decided to have a few (or rather several) beers as well, figuring he wouldn’t get to sleep otherwise, and once he had become drunk, he didn’t trust himself with driving back alone.

“Mornin’, Stark,” greeted Bucky who was sipping his coffee and eating breakfast at the table, giving Tony a nod.

Tony nodded back and poured himself a cup of coffee, half-listening to the news on in the background in the next room.

Steve stood in the corner of the kitchen, drinking his own coffee, watching Tony.

“You should eat something.”

“Not hungry,” Tony replied instantly, his go-to answer whenever someone told him this.

Steve sighed and shook his head.

“You’re losing muscle mass. You’re not eating… I can tell. When was the last time you ate anything?”

Tony could hear the edge in his voice but he tried to avoid eye contact with him as he sipped. “I’ve eaten. I ate last night! Just… leave me alone, Rogers. You’re not my babysitter.”

Steve moved a bit closer, causing Tony tense up a bit but stayed planted where he stood.

“I know last night is the first you’ve eaten in a while, but you’re right, Tony. I’m not you’re babysitter, but I’d like to be your friend, and teammate, if you’d let me.”

The inventor took a deep breath and let it out again, covering it up by sipping his coffee. He just internally shook his head at the thought of being best friends with Captain America. This was the guy that his father could never stop talking about when he was growing up; this was a real hoot. Steve Rogers himself wanted to be friends with the guy he had unmercifully beat up with Barnes six months ago.

Tony finally turned to him. “No, just… no. You’re toxic. We called a truce and I’ll still stick to my promise but… I’m not your friend. I won’t keep reminding you what you did, because you know, but… I’m not going to be your best pal either. I’ll be civil on missions; I’ll look out for you and Barnes, but… I’m not _your_ friend, so I don’t have to tell you shit.”

The answer seemed to take Steve back, giving him pause and several moments of awkward silence as well.

Tony finished his coffee and put his cup in the dishwasher before he walked outside, needing fresh air. He let it into his lungs once he was out there and then heard a familiar voice.

“He just wants to make peace, man…”

Tony swallowed hard, not turning around as he neared his car. “Maybe he shouldn’t have beat on me like he did in Siberia then.”

A few beats of silence before the other man came up with a reply.

“He was just protectin’ me, Stark,” he spoke gently. “He was just doin’ what you’d do for your friends. You’d do the same for them; I know you would. Anyway, you promised him you’d stop bringin’ that up.”

Tony looked over at the man, keeping is hand on the handle of his car, having opting for the much less expensive and more low key car to come here in.

“I know. I know, and you’re right; I would do the same, Barnes… but his case is different. He wasn’t brainwashed, like you were.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Bucky said, shrugging. “He’s tired of fighting you. Can’t you just… make up? You called a truce!”

Tony hated that he felt like the father, Bucky stuck in the middle like a child in the midst of his parents’ divorce. He sighed. “It’s not like I’m going for cigarettes and never coming back, Barnes. I’ll come back and visit. I’ll play nice. I just… don’t like being babied like he likes to do, that’s all.”

Barnes searched Tony’s face and nodded now, chewing on his bottom lip. “Come back soon, man… all right? I’d like to be your friend too.”

A part of Tony felt his heart break for the kid. He knew it really wasn’t Bucky’s fault; he had tried to escape Tony’s rage and it had been Steve who had fought him.

“I know. I think one day we can all be friends but for now, let’s just… take this slow, all right, Barnes?”

The other man nodded before taking a couple steps back and going back into the house. Tony ran a hand through his hand and got inside his car before he slammed the door shut with more force than he probably should have. Once he was inside, he hit the top of the steering wheel a couple times, more angry with himself than either of the super soldiers.

Why couldn’t he just get over this bullshit? It was beyond frustrating. He was the one creating the drama here. He needed to just forgive and forget what happened in Siberia, but that was impossible for him. He grabbed at his hair and suddenly let out a yell before hitting the steering wheel one last time before he took a deep breath and then pulled out of the long, hidden driveway, heading back towards his Tower.

 

.       .     .      .       .

 

_“Boss, you’ve gone nearly 19 hours without eating. Would you like me to order you a pizza?”_

Geez, she was just as bad as Rogers. He cleared his throat and gently hit the wrench with his fist to force it to turn as he worked on his car in his garage.

It wasn’t even that there was anything wrong with it; it was more like Stark just needed a distraction, something to work on, something he could fix that didn’t have a heartbeat and feelings.

“No. I’m not hungry, Friday.”

_“If you’re not feeling well, I can notify either Agent Romanoff or Clint Barton, boss.”_

“No!” Tony exclaimed in frustration, losing concentration as his hand slipped and he cut himself. “Damn it!” He quickly grabbed a clean rag that was sitting nearby and held it against his hand, watching it quickly soak up the blood.

 _“Notifying Agent Romanoff –_ "

Tony was quick to interrupt his AI, not wanting to bother her or make her worry. “No, notify Doctor Stephen Strange, Friday,” he ordered.

He knew it might make him worry, but he hadn’t talked to Bruce in a while and didn’t want to invite him over just to have him fix him up because Tony had done something stupid. He’d rather worry Strange and also consider it an exercise for Stephen to get to know him a little better, realize the hot mess Tony Stark actually was, if he didn’t know already.

_“Yes, Boss. I recommend you apply pressure to the wound until he can arrive.”_

“Yeah,” Tony said, already doing this. “Thanks, Friday.” He cringed at the pain in his hand and took the rag off temporarily to look at the damage.

It was a pretty deep gash across his palm but didn’t look like anything he wouldn’t live through. He’s been hurt much worse than this, after all.

He was trying not to let himself panic as he counted the seconds, feeling a little dizzy, when he heard the hissing sound of an interdimensional vortex that usually came with his Doctor.

He saw the other man walk out of it and into the garage, walking over to where Tony was with concerned eyes as he took his hand. He eyed it carefully before he dragged Tony into the bathroom.

The man watched as Strange worked diligently, pulling out a needle, thread, rubbing alcohol and placing it onto the sink. Tony got a sick feeling in his stomach.

“Please tell me you’re not going to make me stitch myself up.”

Strange smirked slightly. “It’s just a worse-case scenario in case the bleeding doesn’t stop. He took the bloodied rag from Tony and held it firmly against his hand, causing the inventor to groan in pain. “I know, I know it hurts, Stark. Just stay with me.”

Tony felt the blinding pain but forced himself to focus on Strange, gripping his shirt tightly with his hands, resting is head against the ex-surgeon’s chest. “Shit! It hurts so fucking much…”

“I know, I know,” Strange cooed softly, planting a soft kiss to Tony’s hair. “We need to put pressure on it.”

“I know… as everyone keeps reminding me,” he paused before then adding, “I didn’t mean to take you away from work, battling aliens from the Pacific rim or whatever.”

Stephen took the pressure off and saw the bleeding had slowed, the wound finally have clotted. He applied disinfectant to the wound but talked to Tony, trying to distract him from the pain. “I just got back a few seconds after Friday called me. I battled them, saved the world, just like you Avengers,” he smirked.

Tony chuckled and watched as the doctor started to bandage up his hand. “It’s embarrassing. I knew what to do, to make it stop bleeding, you know. Friday’s just an overprotective mother. She didn’t have to call you…she shouldn’t have called you at all!”

“Hey,” Strange said softly, finishing bandaging Tony up before he gently put his hands to the other man’s face and kissed him gently and then casually pulled away. “It’s really okay. She just worries about you like I do. I’m glad she called me; I never want you to be in pain and me not here to help. I can’t do surgery anymore but I can at least get you there before you bleed out.”

Tony laughed weakly and ran his good hand through his hair. He was quiet for a long time before he looked at Strange, his smile fading.

“I love you but… you deserve better than… this,” he motioned up and down at himself.

He wasn’t even halfway through his sentence when Strange started shaking his head and sighing but had a coy smile on his face. “No, no. Stop doing this to yourself, Stark. If I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t be with you. I love you too, and I don’t want to leave you and your self-pitying ass.”

Tony shook his head, not willing to accept this so easily. He looked at the other man with firm eyes. “I’m just going to drag you down.”

“You won’t, Anthony. You won’t. I’m stronger than to let you do that. I want to help you. I want to take care of you.”

“You shouldn’t have to, Strange. I’m too… weak, just like my old man’s always told me. You deserve someone stronger…”

“Oh, Christ… come on, Stark,” Strange chucked in disbelief before he wrapped his arms around Tony firmly, kissing his temple. “No more putting yourself down. When you want to do that, I want you to say one thing you like instead. Do you understand?”

Tony nodded against him, his eyes closed as he breathed Stephen in, smelling a combination of freshly cut grass and cologne in his shirt, which raised more questions than they answered. He took a deep breath and let himself relax against the other man.

“Good. Listen, I’m here for you but you need to let me in. You need to tell me what’s on your mind, how you’re feeling. I’m magical, but… I’m not psychic. I still need some communication on your part, okay, Tony?”

Stark gently pulled away and glanced down at his bandaged hand before he nodded, looking back up at him. “Yeah, I’ll try. Communication was never my strong suit.”

“That’s not what the others have told me,” Stephen smirked. “According to them, you have difficulty shutting up.”

Tony laughed now and shrugged. “I have strong opinions.”

“I’m glad. I’m glad that you’re that way. It reminds me of myself,” Stephen confessed.

“Oh, well, that doesn’t sound narcissist at all,” Tony joked, smirking. “You must like dating yourself. Would I be out of line if I told you to go fuck yourself now?” He chuckled.

Strange grinned and glanced down as he also chuckled before he moved closer to Tony. “You know what that would mean though, don’t you?”

Tony smirked devishly, a glint in his eye. “Hey, Strange. Go fuck yourself.”

“With pleasure.”

Tony felt Stephen’s lips on his own again and felt a euphoria spread throughout him, slipping his hands under the doctor’s shirt as he did the same. It wasn’t long before they were hungrily taking off each other’s’ pants and trying to kiss every piece of skin that was showing.

Tony was so involved in Stephen’s kisses and his magic hands that he completely forgot about the pain in his hand.


	6. Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint is frustrated. Tony tries to help. Stephen tries to help him.

**.     .     .**

_“Boss? Sorry to wake you but Agent Barton is at the door asking to be let in.”_

Tony groaned tiredly.

His own words that he had spoken about himself to Strange yesterday had already started eating at him. After last night’s momentary bliss with Stephen, he lay awake for hours, just overthinking every little thing he had ever done that had gone wrong somehow. He turned over and looked to see him gone.

Of course he was gone.

“Did he say what he wanted?” He still hugged his pillow tightly.

_“He said it was important, I told him something and he pointed to his ears and held up his hearing aids. It was unclear why he didn’t have them in, however.”_

He groaned again and forced himself out of bed, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, fine. Let him in. Tell him I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

_“Okay, boss.”_

Hawkeye probably was sick of wearing them and he wanted to complain to Tony about it. Tony quickly showered and got changed before he took a deep breath and made himself walk out towards the kitchen where Clint was standing awkwardly, his hearing aids sitting on the counter, abandoned.

Tony chewed on his lip in thought, knowing that his basic sign language lessons were about to get real. He really didn’t remember a lot, which he blamed on himself. He really should have taken the time to learn basic sign language just in case something like this happened.

Just another thing he couldn’t do right.

Tony pointed to the hearing aids and then looked at him questioningly before he put his fingers in a loose fist, leaving his thumb and pinky fingers out as he touched his chin with the three closed

_What’s wrong?_

Clint looked embarrassed as he sighed before he made a karate choke motion to his own neck. That was one that Tony didn’t know. Once he saw the confusion in the other man’s eyes, he sighed and put his hands into two fists before he made a snapping motion that everyone knew.

_Broken._

Tony nodded now in understanding before he pointed to the coffee to tell Clint he could help himself and then lifted up his phone before holding out an index finger or the universal sign of “one minute.”

Clint nodded and grabbed a cup of coffee before he sat down. Tony dialed Natasha first, knowing how close she and Clint were that the odds were good that she would know real sign language and would be able to translate for Clint if need be.

She, of course, agreed to come over right away. Tony then dialed Stephen’s number where it went straight to voicemail. He almost hung up but hearing his voice telling him to leave a message was somehow comforting to him right now.

“Hey, umm… no emergency, but… I could just really use some encouragement right now. You’re probably busy, which is… obviously fine but… just… ugh I hate these. Just call me or… whatever you want to do when you get a chance.”

When he hung up, he cursed himself for not saying it was him. Surely Stephen would recognize his voice though?

Tony watched from afar as Clint drank two and a half cups of coffee before Natasha finally came over, Friday letting her in.

“Hey, Clint all right?” she asked with concern, gently touching Tony’s shoulders.

He nodded. “Yeah, I think he’s more frustrated than anything right now. I tried my best to talk to him but I’m not up on my signing. Think you can keep him company while I fix his hearing aids?”

Natasha nodded. “Yeah, of course. Do you think you’ll be able to fix them, though?”

Tony rubbed his neck and shrugged.

“I’m going to try my best. I have to make sure he has something to hear with or else I’ll be putting him out in the field in danger. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of him.”

Natasha smiled softly and nodded. “I know you will.”

Tony kissed her cheek before he led her into the kitchen where Clint was, grabbed the broken hearing aids, and disappeared down into his lab to give the two of them alone time.

He was surprised to see Stephen Strange already in there as he walked down the stairs. “Strange.”

“Tony. I came as soon as I could.”

The other man looked at him almost apologetically as he lay the hearing aids down on one of his worktables and opened up the holographic makeup of them to try and find the problem. “It wasn’t an emergency. I didn’t mean to waste your time.”

Stephen watched with interest as Tony started toying with the hologram, sending things into holographic trash bins.

“Stop it, Stark,” he chided playfully. “I told you before; you’re not a waste of my time. Cute little cuddly aliens that leave annoying goo all across the city are a waste of my time. Not you, though.”

Tony chuckled now, raising his eyebrows. “Cute little cuddly aliens, huh? Sure am sorry I missed that.”

Stephen ignored him but a smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth. “What’s up? What are you working on?”

Tony scratched his temples and sighed. “Apparently his hearing aids are busted and stopped working. I’m trying to figure out why and seeing if I can replace them.”

“Does he have any hearing at all without them?” Concern touched Strange’s eyes now.

Tony grabbed a screwdriver and started to fiddle with the pieces.

“He can hear vague vibrations, but that’s about it. I only know so much sign language. I… need to get these hearing aids fixed for him, that’s neither here nor there. Without it, I’m putting his life at risk in and out of missions,” Tony sighed, his head feeling foggy.

Depression was still sinking into his bones and taking hold. He just wanted to go back to bed.

Stephen searched his face, recognizing the signs. He held out his shaking hands. “Do… you mind if I have a try at fixing it?”

Tony watched him before he almost eagerly pushed the pieces towards him. “Please, by all means.”

Stephen smiled softly before he let the magic come out of his fingertips, moving the pieces of the hearing aid around, seeing if he could find the broken part of it or even fix it. He examined it for several moments before he dropped his hands, feeling the last sparks of energy disappear as the hearing aids dropped down.

“Well, it’s broken all right.”

Tony let out a snort. “Yeah, well, thanks, Sherlock. I already had that figured out, though. Can you fix it?”

Stephen sighed and shook his head. “I just know… surgery and magic. This is a little out of my expertise. You’re using futuristic technology that I’m not very familiar with yet. I’m sorry, Tony.”

The man nodded in understanding, not really having expected Strange to fix it. He took the pieces back and a thought crossed his mind, one that he didn’t feel comfortable thinking about.

“Do you think… someone purposely did this? Do you think someone could have done… _something_ to knock the power out in it?”

Stephen looked at him curiously. “Why would they do that though?”

Tony shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe to show us they can? Maybe… to show their strength? I mean, this hasn’t happened with him before. The power doesn’t just… go out in these things. It has lithium batteries it uses that never need changing once they’re put in, Stark tech.”

Strange thought about this for a few minutes and then also looked uncomfortable. “Who do you think has the power to do that, Anthony?”

The more questions he asked Tony, the more unsure of himself he felt. “I don’t know. Loki? I know they have that technology… up there. Maybe someone else with better technology than us?” He shook his head.

Stephen bit his lip before he reached out and placed his hand on top of Tony’s. “I’ve talked to Loki and Thor respectively and I don’t think it’s them, Anthony. I don’t know what this is, but if it is an enemy, I can go look for them. I can get leads and do research and then, if anything comes up, I’ll get back to you, but for now, treat this like a normal thing. Let’s not overreact and get worked up yet, okay?”

Tony nodded and gently took Stephen’s hand in his own before he squeezed it and traced the faint surgical scars on his hands with his thumb.

“All right. Then, I’ll just make new ones for him, then… until you’ve figured this thing out. Guess I’ll need to brush up on my sign language in the meantime, or just… work for three days straight.”

Strange looked disapprovingly at him. “I would prefer if you didn’t do that. You need to eat and take care of yourself. I know what this is for you.”

Tony took back his hand. “Oh yeah? What is it then?”

“You’re depressed and now you’re stressed out about this because it’s an important thing that needs to get done, so you’re anxious. You want to lock yourself down here for three days straight so you can distract yourself with work. That isn’t healthy, Tony. You know it isn’t.”

The inventor sighed and shook his head. “I don’t care. I need to get this done, though. You’re right; it is important. If I don’t get this done ASAP -"

“ – Then you have to learn a bit of sign language to talk to Barton for a few extra days. That isn’t a big deal. You should be learning that anyway for him, but you need to eat and sleep and shower.”

“I showered today,” Tony replied defensively.

“You know what I mean.” Stephen stood up and moved over to Tony before he leaned down and placed his forehead gently against his own. “I love you, Stark. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I need you.”

Tony felt a warmth reach his chest. “I love you too, Strange.”

“Good, then take care of yourself for me, learn some language skills for your friend, and I’ll go see what I can find out.”

Tony nodded and reluctantly pulled away from Strange with a small smile. “Thank you, for getting me through everything that’s been happening. You’re a lifesaver.”

Stephen chuckled. “I just do what I can to help you, Tony. Don’t make me come back and find out you ignored everything I wanted you to do though. And take your meds. They’ll help.”

Tony groaned and looked up as Strange stood up. “Gotta run? More cute aliens to fight?”

Strange laughed.

“Gods, I hope not.”

Tony wet his lips and put his arms behind his head, lacing his hands together. “Do you believe? In… a God, or… gods or whatever?”

Stephen drew a sharp breath, a smirk on his face. “Haven’t you ever been told that you should never discuss religion or politics with friends or family?”

“I’m serious. Come on.”

Stephen groaned playfully and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess maybe there’s… something. Something had to create this magic that comes out of my hands, right? And after everything I’ve seen? I believe there is a Creator of something, or… Creators. How about you? Do you believe, Stark?”

“I believe in science,” Tony smirked. “I believe in the Big Bang, quantum physics, Einstein and Hawking.”

Stephen smiled, nodding. “Fair enough. Any more questions for me, or am I free to go?”

“Go on. Get out of here, but come back soon.”

“Always.”

Tony watched him disappear through his portals and sighed before he started to make the blueprint for a better, smaller hearing aid for Clint.


	7. New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I promise I haven't given up on this fic.

**.     .     .**

Against Strange’s wishes, Tony stayed in his lab for several hours and was still awake around seven-thirty the next morning when Natasha came down to check on him. She was still in her pjs and looking ridiculously cute.

“You should wear those on missions. I wouldn’t be of much help but – "

She didn’t look amused. In fact, she looked pissed. “You didn’t come to bed last night. I waited for you, and then when I got tired of waiting, I slept in Clint’s room.”

“Well it would’ve been awkward if I slept in his room too, wouldn’t it?” He asked, attempting to joke.

She didn’t laugh as she kept a straight face. “Why is this funny to you, Tony? I’m trying to help him get past the frustration he’s feeling and you haven’t slept, you’re not eating…”

He sighed, not about to deny the exhaustion he was feeling. “I’m sorry, do you not see me working on fixing his hearing problem right now, Nat? I’ve only been down here all night trying to make him new hearing aids. What’s your point?”

She looked affronted. “My point is that you’re not taking care of yourself!”

He suddenly slammed his hands down on the table before he rubbed his face with his palms. “What do you me to do?! Do you want me to fix these or take care of myself because you’re not going to get both!”

She looked taken back by his outburst but wasn’t afraid of him. Disappointment was laced in her eyes instead.

“Stephen told me what he said to you last night. He wanted you to take care of yourself and you promised him you would.”

He closed his eyes before he ran his hands through his hair, looking at her again. “What do you want me to do, Nat?” He asked in a much calmer voice.

She walked closer to him and glanced at the half made new hearing aids. “I want you to come talk to your friend. Spend time with us. He thinks you’re mad that they’re broken.”

“I’m not mad. I’m just… going through my own shit right now and I don’t want you two to get hit with the shrapnel of it. It’s just better if I’m… holed up down here, away from everyone else.”

She gently placed her hands on his cheeks and caressed them before kissing his lips softly. Her kiss seemed to calm him a bit, and he wrapped his arms around her frame, resting his hands on her shoulders, resting his forehead against hers.

“He needs them…” Tony whispered.

“He needs his friends more. You don’t need to fix them right away. He’s a patient guy. He can do without them for a bit.”

“What about when we have another mission?”

She thought about this for a beat before she spoke again. “He’ll sit that one out.”

Tony looked at her skeptically. “You think he’ll accept that?”

“He won’t have a choice. If he can’t hear what’s going on, orders, enemies, whatever… he’ll get hurt. No one wants that. This is us looking out for each other. He’ll understand if you don’t have them finished yet,” Natasha searched his face.

Tony nodded, feeling like a burden that his friend would have to wait for something so vital just because he needed sleep and he was also going through a bout of severe depression. He didn’t think it was a good enough excuse not to get something important done.

She took his hand and led him back upstairs before she left Tony with Clint who was sitting at the table near the kitchen, drinking coffee and eating pancakes. Natasha walked into the kitchen and started to make a plate of food up for Tony.

“Not hungry,” he said automatically.

Natasha laid it in front of Tony. “I don’t care,” she smirked before she sat down on the other side of Clint.

The archer looked almost anxiously at Tony. “Did you fix it?”

Tony was surprised that Clint said anything at all. He had to remind himself dumbly that of course Clint could still speak. He just couldn’t hear him if he said anything that wasn’t three words or easily lip-readable.

He glanced nervously at Nat before looking at Clint and signing what he knew. Tony gave a slight headshake before using his dominant hand to move it backwards and then gave a swinging motion at his wrist. Then he put his index fingers together before pulling them apart, followed by pointing to himself, and then made a sideways slicing motion in the air by the side of his air.

_Not yet, but I will._

Clint saw this and nodded. “Well, take your time.”

Tony wrapped his hand in a ball and made a circular motion on his chest.

_Sorry._

The archer shook his head dismissively but it was evident that he was feeling frustrated. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed as he finished his food and stood up.

Natasha did a fast hand motion with her own hands now that was too quick for Tony’s brain to process but Clint’s answer answered Tony’s question.

“I just want to be alone right now.”

Natasha looked concerned but nodded reluctantly before watching him disappear to his usual guest room in the Tower.

“Oh sure, he gets to be alone but I have to be under adult supervision,” Tony half-joked.

She looked over at him and took a sip of her coffee, smiling almost lovingly at him. “I don’t worry about Clint like I worry about you. I know he’ll be okay. You haven’t given me reason not to ever worry about you, Tony.”

“Well, sorry for that, I guess.”

“Tony, stop,” she said gently. “I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t have anything to apologize for. I’m just saying, you’re going through depression, which isn’t easy ever. It’s not good for you to shut yourself up though, so of course I’m going to worry.”

Tony nodded but if he was honest, he was only half listening. His mind had drifted to the bad part of town mentally and he had to force himself back to reality. He was about to steal the rest of Clint’s half drank coffee when Nat gently hit his hand.

“What are you doing? No coffee for you!”

“You’re kidding me. Barton has had like six cups today and I’m not even allowed my first one?”

She gave him a knowing look. “You need to sleep. Coffee isn’t going to help with that.”

Tony knew she was right but he was craving caffeine right now just so he wouldn’t have to sleep. He didn’t think he’d be able to get back out of bed for at least four days if he went to bed right now. He didn’t even know how long it had been since he slept; the days seemed to mesh together.

“Tony, are you even listening to me?”

He gave a nod, looking down at his hands when the doorbell suddenly rang. Tony gave a heavy sigh. “Who is it, Friday?”

_“It’s Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes, boss.”_

Tony felt Nat’s cautious eyes on him. “Do you want me to tell them it’s a bad time?”

He didn’t feel like talking but he couldn’t ignore the two super soldiers forever, either. Right now, he welcomed some more testosterone into the room on any account. He could put the truce into action and see how well Cap could follow instructions.

“No, it’s fine. Let them, Fri.”

_“Yes, boss.”_

A few moments later, Bucky and Steve walked inside, waving and smiling at Nat who smiled back at them. There was a few moments of silence before Steve looked at Tony.

“Sorry I didn’t call first. I guess I just thought it’d be okay to drop by.”

Tony shrugged. “Well you’re not the only ones here. I think just about everyone is here, except Point Break who’s… off in space, I guess. Welcome to the party.”

Bucky ran a hand through his hair before he gently nudged Steve before he whispered something to him. Steve turned to look at the inventor again. “I’m going to go say hi to Clint, but I’ll be back soon.”

Natasha smiled and nodded before realizing what it was that Bucky wanted to do. She cleared her throat. “I’m going to go with him, make sure that he doesn’t get lost trying to find him."

When they were out of the room, Bucky walked closer over to Tony. Stark tensed a little bit but was too much in his head to be particularly scared of him at this moment anyway. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, wishing he had taken up the offer to crawl into bed.

“Can I sit?”

Tony motioned towards a nearby chair, nodding and turned his own chair to face him.

“I recognize that look, Stark. You know, after the war, while I was stuck with Hydra, I started gettin’ depression pretty bad too. I can’t… I can’t tell ya how many times I thought about just… endin’ it. I even tried a few times but, obviously I can’t do that right either.”

Tony felt something tighten in his chest, feeling a bit surprised by this news. He searched Bucky’s eyes. “Rogers would be crushed if you had succeeded. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself.”

Bucky half smiled but it didn’t meet his eyes. “I know how hard it is pretendin’, and… I’m not expecting you to just suddenly be better after this talk or anythin’ but… I just want you to know you’re not alone. You can talk to me or Steve… or… whoever, but… you should talk.”

Tony took this in and nodded slowly. “Does Rogers know?”

He looked a bit uneasy before he shook his head. “I haven’t told him about any of it. I don’t want him to think differently of me.”

“Do you think differently of me?” Tony asked, curious. Not that he really cared one way or another, but he needed to know anyway.

Bucky shrugged. “Maybe, but in a good way. Seeing you like this, knowin’ you’re going through the same thing… it’s good to see that you’re actually human after all. You’re good at hidin’ behind your self-deprecating jokes, to cover up your pain, but you can only hide for so long, Stark.”

Tony nodded and swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this man knowing him better than he knew himself. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his pancakes towards Bucky.

“Help yourself to the coffee. One of us should at least be able to enjoy it.”

Barnes smirked but started to dig in. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

“You do know that I’m old enough to be your father, right?” Bucky took a big bite of pancake, glancing up at Tony.

“Only in the history books. I’d be more concerned if you actually looked your real age.” Tony gently patted Bucky’s shoulder before he began to head upstairs towards his room.


	8. Hear Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. Here it is though.

**.        .        .**

Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly as he crawled into his bed. He didn’t want to sleep but he knew Natasha was right; he wouldn’t be of any use if he didn’t sleep and wasn’t focused. He heard a door open and opened his eyes to see a familiar shape in the darkened room.

The figured crawled into bed in front of him and sighed contently as she curled into Tony’s arms, resting her head on his shoulder.

He leaned in and gently kissed her forehead. “Steve and the kid still here?”  He whispered.

She wrapped an arm around him under the covers. Her body felt like a puzzle piece that fit perfectly with his own. “They’re both with Clint, trying to communicate. I think they’ve decided writing things down was the best option for them.”

Tony could only imagine that frustration. At least he knew _some_ sign language to get him by, for the most part. On short breaks with his fixing of the hearing aids, he had also looked up online how to say more words. If this wasn’t going to be a short term issue, he needed to try to be a decent person at least, and he wanted to be better.

“You should go help them…” Tony suggested reluctantly.

She kissed his cheek softly and held herself closer to him. “I’m tired. I’ve been running around nonstop, trying to take care of everyone. I just want to be with you right now, Tony.”

He kissed her hair and lingered there, nonchalantly breathing her in. She smelled… _safe._ Like a security blanket, but he loved that she also felt strong. Not like Pepper. He was always afraid of breaking her, but not with Nat.

He held her close and the two of them quickly fell asleep.

 

**.  .   .  .  .  .  . .**

Tony woke up with a start, his body jolting. He gasped and looked around, realizing it looked darker now in the room. He took a moment to catch his breath before he carefully unwound Natasha limbs from around his body and wrapped the covers around her as he stood up and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

It was definitely darker in the room but it couldn’t be any later than 8pm. He decided to check on Clint first and headed to his room, knocking softly before opening the door. He was surprised not to see the archer or anyone else in there so he headed downstairs.

“Friday? Where’s Agent Barton?”

_“He’s in the kitchen, Boss.”_

“Thanks, Fri. Appreciate it.” He continued to walk down the stairs and relaxed when he saw Clint making coffee.

Tony hit his hand on the counter near him to let him know he was in there too without causing him too much alarm.

Clint slowly turned around and looked at him, searching his face. He looked like there was so much he wanted to ask or say but he didn’t speak or sign so Tony decided to start the conversation.

“ _You okay_?” Tony signed.

Clint brought his hand up to his cheek, his palm outward. Tony knew that one well.

_Frustrated._

He felt his heart ache for his friend. He started signing again.

 _“I’m working on a new hearing aid for you, even if it’s temporary.”_ Tony knew he messed some of the signing up but he knew he got his point across when he saw Clint nod and relax a little. He glanced over at the coffee pot before he chuckled to himself and signed again,

_“You’re going to have a heart attack with all the coffee you drink.”_

Clint laughed now and shrugged, deciding to speak this time. “Bound to happen sooner or later, Stark.”

Tony chuckled, smiling at his friend in amusement. He grabbed two large mugs down from the cupboard and grabbed the sugar and creamer for them. He turned to Clint.

_“Come downstairs with me? I want to fit you for the new one before I keep working on it. We can hang out?”_

Tony needed to spend more time with his friend and maybe even learn something new from him. This would be a good opportunity since neither of them would be sleeping for a while tonight with the coffee. He looked at Clint expectantly.

The archer nodded and signed once more. _“Sure, that sounds great.”_

Tony nodded once and smiled gratefully, pouring his coffee before handing the fresh pot off to Clint who did the same before placing it back in its holder. He motioned for Clint to follow him once they added their cream and sugar, leading them downstairs into the lab.

Tony closed the door behind Clint and then put on some music that he could work to and walked over to his desk. He touched the holographic keypad and brought up the new hearing aids blueprint he was working on.

Tony pulled the chair out across from him, motioning for Clint to sit there. Once the other man did, he took the blueprint and then threw it towards Clint, watching as it automatically aligned to his ear.

Tony moved closer to him and took two fingers before he pinched the aids inwards, making them smaller and less noticeable, but also made sure it lined up with Clint’s ears. He hit a button on the keypad again, locking the outline in before he turned the design around to show Clint.

_“This look okay to you?”_

Clint nodded before he signed to the inventor. _“Will it be that color too?”_

Tony looked at it the neon blue glow of it. He shrugged before he brought up the color wheel and spun through it before he looked at Clint.

_“Color preference?”_

Clint put two fingers out, his fist closed and turned the two fingers on their side, almost in a sideways peace sign, before he shook it a couple times.

_Purple._

Of course. It would match Hawkeye’s outfit.

Tony nodded and pressed the purple option for the color and watched the color wheel disappear before showing his hearing aid in a neon purple now. He showed him the new design.

Clint gave a thumbs up and took a sip of his coffee.

Tony returned the thumbs up and started to put together a new hearing out using the 3-D printer Happy had recently mailed to him, and spare parts. Tony worked quietly but after a few minutes, he heard Clint humming an old song.

It was funny how people would still hum songs, even after they lost their hearing. Clint could feel the base vibrations from the humming, even if he couldn’t hear the tone of his voice in his throat. Tony smiled to himself as he listened to his friend, remembering the admiration and love he had for the archer. He knew the man had gone through a lot in his life, and he admired how resilient he was, and how he didn’t let what happened affect him to a debilitating extent, or at least Clint didn’t let it affect him so much anymore. _He was stronger than Tony could ever be_ , he thought to himself.

He glanced over every once in a while to see the archer sketching on what Tony assumed was probably an important paper. He looked back and worked for about two hours, surprised how well the archer was at keeping himself occupied while Tony worked.

 _He’s not a damn child, Tony,_ he had to remind himself dumbly. _He’s a grown man. Of course he can keep himself occupied._

Tony felt foolish to think otherwise but he sometimes forgot. Watching him sometimes, Clint looked like a small child just drawing or coloring that it was easy to forget that he was only a few years older than the other man.

He turned his attention back to the mostly made hearing aid that was being created by the impressive 3D printer and of course that was the moment the rest of the team decided to come downstairs.

Tony tensed a little as he glanced up to see them walking towards him. He stretched his arms out and looked at them.

“Here to see my new product or are you all starting an angry mob? Either way, you all look surprisingly intimidating.”

Steve cocked his head a little to the side and raised his eyebrows, looking at Tony. “We would like to see it, Stark. We’re on the same side here. We’re here to support you.”

Tony watched the Cap and looked over at Bucky who gave a short nod in agreement, before he looked at Nat and Bruce who both smiled warmly at him, their eyes gleaming with excitement. Tony nodded at all of them and then took the finished purple hearing aids off the printer when it gave a beep and handed it to them to look at.

Steve looked thoroughly impressed. “Wow. These are… smaller than his other ones, right?”

Tony smirked in satisfaction with himself now, nodding. Impressing Cap took work. “By at least 50 percent. These won’t come out during missions.”

Natasha chuckled. “Purple?”

Tony also chuckled and shrugged before motioning to the archer. “It was his idea. It’ll match his outfit anyway. Why shouldn’t he be fashionable?”

They all chuckled good-heartedly and she smiled as she walked over to Clint who stopped sketching and looked fully alert now that they were all walking over to him. He glanced at Tony who stood up and also walked over.

His face was filled with confusion until he saw what was in her hands. He felt his breath catch, surprised at the new high tech hearing aids.

He looked at all of them before looking at Tony and signed.

_“All done?”_

Tony nodded, smiling. “Go ahead, Nat. Give him the goods.”

She handed the pair of aids to Clint before she also signed back to him.

_“Go ahead. Put them in. See how they feel.”_

He nodded and carefully put them in his ears, surprised at how easily they wrapped around his ears and how comfortable they felt inside them. He fingered the top for the button and when he turned them on, he winced in anticipation of annoying feedback but realized that it was very minor, almost not even noticeable, unlike his older ones.

He relaxed and he looked at them, nodding. “They feel good.”

Tony and Bruce walked closer to him and examined them around his ear.

“Can you hear us okay?”

Clint reached up and turned the volume up a little bit but then nodded. “Yeah, it’s great. Thank you, Stark.”

“My pleasure. It’s good to have you back, Hawk.”

Natasha playfully messed up his hair. “Now you can perch up in your nest and hear everything in this place.”

“Hey, hey now. Watch the hair, Nat…” he teased playfully, chuckling.

Steve and Bucky also both chuckled before Steve reached down and grabbed the sketch. He smirked to himself. “This is… a very good likeness, Clint.”

“Wait, no!” He reached for his drawing. “It’s not done yet, man. Have some respect!”

Tony looked over at the drawing to see what looked very much like himself as he worked earlier in his chair but drawn almost in caricature form. He took the drawing now and laughed. “Wait a second. Why the hell is my forehead so big? That’s not what I look like at all…”

Clint snatched the drawing back and smirked. “Because it has to fit your big ego, Stark.”

Tony rolled his eyes but was still smiling, glad to hear Clint’s voice again. He’d take all the playful insults in the world just as long as his friend could hear all of them again and be his old self.


End file.
